פירוש על סוכה 4:15

לולב וערבה - Lulav/the festive wreath (the Four Species) for taking up, and the willow for going around the altar.

Introduction This mishnah is an introduction to the remainder of the tractate Sukkot. On Sukkot there are some mitzvot that are observed for the full eight days (seven days of Sukkot and one day of Shmini Atzeret) and there are other mitzvot that are observed for a lesser number of days, either because they are not observed on Shabbat or because they do not apply to Shmini Atzeret. Up until now the mishnah has spent two chapters discussing the sukkah and one chapter discussing the lulav. In the upcoming mishnayot we will learn more about these other mitzvot including some fascinating rituals observed in the Temple.

ששה ושבעה – because sometimes they supersede the Sabbath and there would be seven, and sometimes, they don’t supersede the Sabbath and there isn’t other than six, and further on, it will explain it.

[The rituals of] the lulav and the aravah are for six or seven [days]; The lulav and the special mitzvah of the aravah are observed for either six days or seven days. We will learn why in mishnayot two and three. The mitzvah of the aravah refers to circling the altar with the aravah, a mitzvah described in detail in mishnah five.

והלל – to complete [its recitation] all eight days, which is not the case on Passover, because the [intermediate] days of the Festival [of Sukkot] are divided in their sacrifices.

The Hallel and the rejoicing are for eight [days]; The full Hallel is recited for all eight days of Sukkot and Shmini Atzeret. Similarly, there is a mitzvah to rejoice on all eight days of the festival. Both of these are referred to in mishnah eight.

והשמחה – to eat the meat of peace offerings in the time of the Temple, as it is written (Deuteronomy 16:14):”"You shall rejoice in your festival…” and there is no rejoicing at the time of the Temple other than through the meat of peace offerings as it is written (Deuteronomy 27:7): “And you shall sacrifice there offerings of well-being and eat them, rejoicing [before the LORD your God].”

The sukkah and the water libation are for seven [days]; The mitvah to sit in a sukkah is for only seven days. On Shmini Atzeret one does not sit in the sukkah. The water libation was a special libation of water poured onto the altar only on Sukkot. It is described in mishnah nine. Here we learn that they would perform this special water libation for all seven days of the festival, even on Shabbat.

סוכה – to sit/dwell in the Sukkah

The flute is for five or six [days]. The flute is played at a special celebration that occurred in the Temple called “Simchat Bet Hashoeva.” This celebration does not take place on Shabbat, the first day of the festival (Yom Tov) or on Shmini Atzeret. Hence the flute is played for only five or six days, depending on whether the first day of the festival is on Shabbat. Simchat Bet Hashoeva is described at length in chapter five.

וניסוך המים – with the daily morning offerings of the Festival.

החליל – at the joyous procession to and from the well they would rejoice on the Festival [of Sukkot] in honor of the drawing of libation waters, and they would play on flutes and harps, and that flute does not supersede either the Sabbath nor the Festival day.

לולב שבעה – for the first day [of Sukkot] supersedes the Sabbath because it has the essential [principle] from the Torah outside of Jerusalem, as it is written (Leviticus 23:40): “ On the first day you shall take [the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days].”

“The lulav for seven.” How so? If the first day of the festival fell on Shabbat, the lulav [is taken for] seven days; on any other day, [it is taken] for six.
As we have learned before, outside of Jerusalem it is a mitzvah from the Torah to take the lulav only on the first day of the festival. Hence, if the first day of the festival falls on Shabbat, one still performs the mitzvah of the lulav. We saw this described above in 3:13. In such a case the lulav will be taken for seven days one day in which the mitzvah is “deoraita” from the Torah, and the rest of the days it is “derabbanan” from the rabbis.
However, if Shabbat falls on another day besides the first day of the festival, then since the mitzvah is only of rabbinic origin, it is not observed. In other words, the derabanan mitzvah of the lulav does not override the Shabbat. In such a case the mitzvah is observed for only six days.
Since the time of the Babylonian Talmud it has become customary not to take the lulav on Shabbat, even if it falls on the first day of the festival. However, this is not the custom reflected in the mishnah.

ושאר כל הימים – if the First Day [of Sukkot] occurs on the other days of the week, and it is found that Shabbat occurs during the Intermediate Days of the Festival, it does not supersede [the Sabbath], and even though, from the Torah, all seven [are observed] in the Temple, the Sages preserved their decree on the other days of the Festival [of Sukkot] since they lack the principle from the Torah outside of Jerusalem. But by law, even in our times, the Lulav would supersede the Sabbath on the First Day of the Festival [of Sukkot], but because we are not expert in the establishment of the month, and lest that it is not the first day of the Festival, therefore, it does not supersede the Sabbath from doubt. But the reason that they (i.e., the Sages) decreed to not take up the Lulav on the Sabbath, for in taking it up, there is no [violation] of work other than merely carrying, and it was decreed lest he take it in his hand and would walk to someone expert to learn the blessing and the order of the Wavings [of the Lulav] and cause to pass four cubits in the public domain, and that is the reason for the Shofar [which is prohibited to carry on Shabbat] and that is the reason for the Megillah [which is prohibited to carry on Shabbat].

יום שביעי של ערבה כו' – for the sake of recognition to know that it is from the Torah, that is to say, a usage dating from Moses as delivered from Sinai (i.e., a traditional interpretation of a written law), and because of this recognition, it was established that its seventh [day] supersedes the Sabbath in the Temple, for with the willow, they would make a circuit around the altar. But today, it is not other than a custom of the Prophets that they directed the people to take the willow on the seventh day other than the willow in the Lulav, but we don’t make a blessing upon it.

“The aravah seven days.” How is this? If the seventh day of [the ritual of] the aravah fell on Shabbat, [it lasts] seven days; if it fell on any other day, [it lasts only] six.
The only difference between this mishnah and the previous mishnah concerning the lulav is that the lulav is taken on Shabbat if Shabbat is the first day of the festival, whereas the aravah (the willow) is taken on Shabbat if Shabbat falls on the seventh day of the festival. If Shabbat falls on one of the other days, the aravah ritual is not performed on that day and it will turn out that the aravah ritual happens on only six days. In mishnah five we will learn more about the aravah ritual as it was performed in the Temple. The reason that only the seventh day supersedes Shabbat is that the seventh day is the climax of the ritual.

מוליכין את לולביהן להר הבית – the first day of the Festival [of Sukkot] that occurs on the Sabbath, they would bring their Lulavim from the eve of the Sabbath (i.e., Friday).

Introduction In 3:13 we learned how the mitzvah of lulav was performed in the synagogue on Shabbat and how they managed to get their lulavs to the synagogue while avoiding the prohibition of carrying. In today’s mishnah we see how the same problem was addressed when the Temple still stood and the people were bringing their lulav not to the synagogue but to the Temple.

החזנים – the sextons that were there for the needs of the community/congregation.

The mitzvah of the lulav how was it carried out? The question is not really how the mitzvah of lulav was in general performed, but rather how the mitzvah was performed so as to avoid the problem while avoiding certain halakhic problems that would arise on Shabbat.

על גב האצטבא – the open place of the Temple Mount which was surrounded by porticos to sit there and covering the festival booth (i.e., Sukkah) from above because of the rains.

If the first day of the festival fell on Shabbat, they brought their lulavim to the Temple Mount, and the attendants would receive them and arrange them on top of the portico, and the elders laid theirs in the chamber. And they would teach the people to say, “Whoever gets my lulav in his hand, let it be his as a gift.” The problem of taking the lulav in the Temple on Shabbat is twofold. First of all it is forbidden to carry a lulav through the public domain on Shabbat, so they would have to bring their lulavim to the Temple Mount on Friday. Secondly, one has to be able to recognize his own lulavim because one can fulfill one's obligation only with one's own lulav. In 3:13 we read that in the synagogue everyone recognized their lulav. In the Temple there were just too many lulavim to hope that everyone would recognize which was theirs. Therefore the leaders in the Temple trained everyone to say that if someone else took their lulav, then that lulav should belong to them. In this way everyone would own the lulav that they actually ended up with.

הזקנים – that worry that they would not be knocked down on the morrow when they would come to to take each person his Lulav.

The next day they got up early, and came [to the Temple Mount] and the attendants threw down [their lulavim] before them, and they snatched at them, and so they used to come to blows with one another. While this solution resolved the halakhic problem, it created a social problem people were still jostling each other over who gets which lulav. It might have been that everyone was trying to get their own lulav, despite what they had said the previous day. Equally likely in my opinion, is that everyone wanted to take the nicest looking lulav they could find, even if the one that they had brought was not the best. In any case, the mad scramble for lulavim led to brawls. This seems to be another case of people allowing their religious zeal to go overboard causing them to neglect the welfare of their fellow human being.

ומלמדין – The Jewish court (would teach] all the people to say that if my Lulav were to come into the hand of my fellow, it would be his as a gift, in order that it wouldn’t be for him either stolen or borrowed.

When the court saw that they reached a state of danger, they instituted that each man should take [his lulav] in his own home. The court was quick to put an end to this situation and ruled that it is better for people just to stay at home then to potentially harm each other over the taking of the lulav. I think it is essential to notice how far the court was willing to go to ensure the safety of the people and to prevent religious zealotry from becoming a dominant force. Better that the opportunity to join together in fulfilling the mitzvah of the lulav should be lost than that it should bring violent results.

נקרא מוצא – In the Gemara (Talmud Sukkah 45a) it states that its name is KALANIA. And even today such is its name, and the willow is found there, and the place is a little bit distant from Jerusalem. And the explanation of KALANIA is free from taxation. And therefore, it is called Motza which is removed from the taxation of the king for the willows that they take from there.

Introduction This mishnah teaches how the special mitzvah of the aravah (the willow) was performed in the Temple. This ritual is not mentioned at all in the Torah and according to the majority opinion in the Talmud it is either an ancient halakhah, a prophetic enactment or a custom. However, others derive the mitzvah of the aravah from the Torah by using a midrash. It seems likely that the Sadducees, a group that rivaled the Pharisees while the Temple stood, did not believe that this was indeed a mitzvah. There is a story in the Talmud that one time the Baytusim (the name of a sect possibly synonymous with the Sadducees) covered the aravot with a heap of rocks to prevent the mitzvah from being performed. The fact that other sects of Jews opposed this mitzvah explains why it was performed with so many verbal demonstrative acts (recitations and shofar blasts). This was a way to demonstrate that this mitzvah should be performed and a way to convince others to do so. After the destruction of the Temple, the custom developed to circle around the synagogue one time each day of the week while holding the lulav and seven times on Hoshanah Rabbah, the last day of Sukkot.

מרביות – large and tall branches eleven cubits high, and they place them on the base of the altar and their tops are upright and stretched on the altar by a cubit.

The mitzvah of the aravah how was it [performed]?
There was a place below Jerusalem called Moza. They went down there and gathered tall branches of aravot and then they came and stood them up at the sides of the altar, and their tops were bent over the altar. They then sounded a teki’ah [long blast], a teru’ah [staccato blast] and again a teki’ah. Most of this ritual is self-explanatory. The aravot would need to be about 11 cubits high (more than five meters) so that their tops would go over the altar which was ten meters high. The shofar blasts were meant to give the ritual great publicity and great authority. They were also a sign of rejoicing.

אני הוא – in Gematria (the numerical value) of “We beseech you, O LORD”, and furthermore they are two names which are part of the name of “the world of creation. Another explanation: when he and I are in trouble, I am with him on the path when in trouble, “Save us.”

Every day they went round the altar once, saying, “O Lord, save us, O Lord, make us prosper” (Psalms 118: 25). While circling the altar the people would recite Psalms 118:25, which is a plea to God to save us and bring us prosperity. Since Sukkot is the holiday on which we pray for the beginning of the rainy season, it is likely that the prosperity which they were praying for was rain.

Rabbi Judah says: “Ani vaho, save us.” According to Albeck, Rabbi Judah pronounced the beginning of this verse differently. Whereas we pronounce it “ana adonay”, he would pronounce it “ani vaho.” However, the meaning of “ani vaho” is not clear. Others read “ani vehu” which would mean “I and God”, meant to express the idea that God also participates in the sorrows and sufferings of His people Israel.

On that day they went round the altar seven times. On the seventh day they would circle the altar seven times. This is the origins of “Hoshanah Rabbah”, the last day of Sukkot on which we circle the Torah, which is placed in the middle of the synagogue, seven times.

When they departed, what did they say? “O altar, beauty is to you! O altar, beauty is to you!” Rabbi Eliezer said: [they would say,] “To the Lord and to you, O altar, to the Lord and to you, O altar.” The end of this seven day ritual was also accompanied by recitations, again meant to emphasize the importance of the aravah ritual and our sadness that the joyous occasion is completed. The people are actually paying homage, in a sense, to the altar. Through the altar the people of Israel receive atonement and hence it is desirable for us to praise it. We should note that we often think of Judaism as an anti-iconic religion God is transcendent, has no body or image, and we therefore deemphasize religious artifacts and emphasize intentions, emotions and our intellect. While this is not the space to enter into a thorough examination of these issues, it does seem to me that this is largely a Maimonidean concept of Judaism. In our mishnah we see that most rabbis had no problem directly speaking to the altar itself. Rabbi Eliezer adds that the praise should not go only to the altar, but to God as well.

גיגיות – golden utensils filled with water, in order that their leaves will not wither.

Introduction The first section of this mishnah teaches how the aravah ritual was performed on Shabbat. In the second section we see that at least one rabbi thought that this was not an aravah ritual but a ritual performed with palm branches.

חריות – branches of the palm tree that they would bring whether on weekdays or on the Sabbath, and not the willow, as it is written (Leviticus 23:40): “boughs of leafy trees,” which are two, one for the Lulav and another for the Altar. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yohanan ben Beroka.

As was its performance on a weekday, so was its performance on Shabbat, except that they would gather them on the eve of Shabbat and place them in golden basins so that they would not become wilted. The mishnah emphasizes that when this ritual was done on Shabbat (if it fell on the seventh day) it was done in the exact same way that it was done during the week. This seems to be an emphasis of the rabbis in several places certain holiday rituals are indeed carried out on Shabbat. This is another area of halakhah in which the rabbis/Pharisees deeply disagreed with the Sadducees and the sect from the Dead Sea. Indeed, according to the solar calendar used by the Dead Sea Sect, the holidays mostly began on Wednesdays. They thought that holiday ritual never superseded Shabbat and they shaped their calendar accordingly. In contrast the Pharisees/rabbis said that on certain occasions, it did.

Rabbi Yohanan ben Beroka says: they used to bring palm branches and they would beat them on the ground at the sides of the altar, and that day was called “[the day of] the beating of the palm branches.” In this section we learn that Rabbi Yohanan ben Beroka disagrees with all of the previous mishnayot. He holds that the entire ritual was done with palm branches and not with aravot. At the end of the rituals they would beat whatever had been carried around the altar for seven days (the palm branches according to Rabbi Yohanan ben Beroka, and aravot according to the other sages). That day was called “the day of the beating of the palm branches/aravot.” To this day beating the aravot on Hoshanah Rabbah is still customary. Other commentators explain that Rabbi Yohanan’s debate with the other sages is only concerning the seventh day. On that day one takes palm branches and aravot. On the other days he agrees that he takes only aravot.

מיד התינוקות שומטים את לולביהן – the older ones snatch/carry off/steal the Lulavim/palm branches from the hands of the younger children.

Immediately after beating the willows (or palm branches) the children undo their lulavs and eat their etrogim. Once the ritual of the aravah was completed, children would immediately undo the ties binding their lulavim together and would immediately eat the etrogim. This seems to encompass two concrete ways of demonstrating that the mitzvah was utterly completed. Once the lulav is untied it is no longer really a lulav it is now just a palm branch, a willow and a myrtle branch. Once the etrog has a bite taken out of it, it can no longer be used on Sukkot.

ואוכלים – the older ones eat the citrons/Etrogim of the younger children, and there isn’t anything like stealing in this matter for such was how they acted out of joy. Another commentary: the little children would cast their Lulavim/palm branches from their hands and eat their Etrogim/citrons on the seventh day, but the older ones would not eat their Etrogim/citrons all that day, since it was designed for a Mitzvah for part of the day, it was designated for a Mitzvah for the entire day.

לא יתיר – its band to take it (i.e., the Sukkah) down, for the entire day it is required.

Introduction The first section of this mishnah deals with the recitation of Hallel and “rejoicing”, two mitzvoth which one fulfills on all eight days of the festival. The second section deals with the sukkah in which one dwells for seven days but not on Shmini Atzeret, the eighth day of Sukkot.

אבל מוריד – he would take down from there nice utensils and nice couches/mattresses that he brought up into it (i.e., the Sukkah).

The Hallel and rejoicing are on all eight days: How is this so? This teaches that one is obligated for the Hallel, for rejoicing and for honoring the festival on the last day, just as he is on all the other days of the festival. On all eight days of Sukkot and Shmini Atzeret the full Hallel is recited. This is different from Pesah on which a full Hallel is recited on the first day only. “Rejoicing” has a general meaning in that one is supposed to be happy on the festival, as it says in Leviticus 23:40, “And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.” Despite the fact that the Torah specifies “seven days” the rabbis expanded this to include Shmini Atzeret. “Rejoicing” also has a more specific ritual sense during the festival one should bring sacrifices and eat them because eating meat, a much rarer luxury in mishnaic times than it is now, was considered one of the consummate signs of rejoicing.

מפני כבוד יו"ט – so that it would appear as if he preparing it [for the place] where he will eat in it in the evening.

The sukkah is for seven days. How so? Once he finished eating [his meal on the seventh day], he should not untie his sukkah, but he removes its contents from the time of minhah and onwards in honor of the last day of the festival. While the Hallel and rejoicing are for the full eight days, one sits in the sukkah for only seven days. Shmini Atzeret is distinguished by the fact that we do not sit in the sukkah. The mishnah teaches that one should eat his last meal in the sukkah for lunch on the seventh day of Sukkot and then start to bring his nice things, his dishes, his bed, his couch etc., into the house as a sign of respect for Shmini Atzeret. However, he should not undo his sukkah because he might still need to eat in there if he wants to eat again before the day is over. Taking the sukkah down before Sukkot is completely over might also be perceived as a sign of disrespect for Sukkot. It might make it look like he couldn’t wait to take down his sukkah.

מן השלוח – it is a spring that is near to Jerusalem.

Introduction Another one of the unique ceremonies performed at the Temple on Sukkot was the water libation. During the year libations, that is pouring liquid onto the altar, were always performed with wine. The water libation is unique and was vehemently opposed by the Sadducees, as we shall see at the end of the Mishnah. The water libation functioned as a supplication to God to bring rain in the upcoming season. As I have emphasized in other places, the rainy season in Israel is from Sukkot to Pesah. If enough rain does not fall in this period people’s lives would have been in serious danger. In the Temple they would pour water onto the altar to ask God to bring rain from the heavens to fill the cisterns and underground aquifers below.

שער המים – One of the gates of the [Temple] courtyard is called this, on account of the fact that there they would bring in the flask of water for the libation of the Festival.

How was the water libation [performed]? A golden flask holding three logs was filled from the Shiloah. When they arrived at the water gate, they sounded a teki'ah [long blast], a teru'ah [a staccato note] and again a teki'ah. [The priest then] went up the ascent [of the altar] and turned to his left where there were two silver bowls. Rabbi Judah says: they were of plaster [but they looked silver] because their surfaces were darkened from the wine. They had each a hole like a slender snout, one being wide and the other narrow so that both emptied at the same time. The one on the west was for water and the one on the east for wine. If he poured the flask of water into the bowl for wine, or that of wine into that for water, he has fulfilled his obligation. Rabbi Judah says: with one log he performed the ceremony of the water-libation all eight days. To [the priest] who performed the libation they used to say, “Raise your hand”, for one time, a certain man poured out the water over his feet, and all the people pelted him with their etrogs. The water libation ritual would begin with a procession from the Shiloah, the stream that empties out at the base of the Temple Mount. As we shall see when we learn the fifth chapter, this procession would begin in the morning after Simchat Bet Hashoevah (to be explained below). The people would make their way up to the Temple and enter through a designated gate called “the water gate.” [Made much more famous about 2,000 years later!] Just as we saw with the aravah ritual, here too they blew three shofar blasts. Again, this seems to have been a way of highlighting the event and emphasizing its importance in light of the fact that others disagreed with its fulfillment. They would then pour the water into a special bowl that had a hole in it. The water would go down to a cistern underneath the altar called “shitin”, where according to legend it would cause the waters of the deep to rise and nourish the earth. The wine libation was done simultaneously. Rabbi Judah disagrees with the first opinion in the mishnah concerning two matters: 1) the libation was done with a log and not with three logs. Secondly, he holds that the water libation was for all eight days and not just on the seven days of Sukkot. In the final story a priest, identified in the Talmud as a Sadducee, pours the water onto the floor of the Temple rather than pouring it onto the altar. In response, the people pelt him with their etrogs. There are several fascinating aspects to this story. First of all, although the Sadducean priest disagreed with the water libation, he was still working in the Temple and he ended up with the water flask in his hand. If the Sadducees controlled the Temple why did he have the water flask such that he had to cast it down? Why would they have bothered bringing the water up from the Shiloah in the first place? And if the Pharisees controlled the Temple, why would they have let a Sadducean priest perform a ritual that they surely knew he disagreed with? Another interesting point is that the people’s sentiments clearly lie with the rabbis/Pharisees. Finally, there is a very similar story in Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 13, Chapter 13: “As to Alexander, his own people were seditious against him; for at a festival which was then celebrated, when he stood upon the altar, and was going to sacrifice, the nation rose upon him, and pelted him with citrons [which they then had in their hands, because] the law of the Jews required that at the feast of tabernacles every one should have branches of the palm tree and citron tree; which thing we have elsewhere related.” This event occurred during the Hasmonean reign, meaning sometime in the early 1st century B.C.E. Alexander Yannai was king and high priest and was known to have had Sadducean leanings. However, there is nothing in Josephus about a water libation. The people pelt him with etrogs (citrons) because they oppose him as king and high priest. It is hard to know if the story in the Mishnah is related to this story from Josephus, either historically or literarily, but one thing we can know for sure if you’re a Sadducee in the Temple on Sukkot, you’d better watch your head!

תקעו הריעו – because it is stated (Isaiah 12:3): “Joyfully shall you draw water [from the fountains of triumph].”

עלה בכבש – [the ramp] was on the southern side of the Altar.

ופנה לשמאלו – for the libations were made in the south-west corner, and when he turns to the left, it is the first.

שהיו משחירים פניהם – on account of the wine, and they were similar to silver which is black from the plaster.

כמין שני חוטמין דקין – one snout in one bowl with one perforation in its nose, and the Kohen/priest would empty into the mouth of the bowls and libations would cause an uninterrupted flow/splash and descend through the spouts on the roof of the Altar, and on the Altar was a perforation where the wine and the water would go down to pits by the side of the altar into which the remainder of the libations were poured which are cavities and very deep.

אחד מעובה ואחד דק – one of the perforations was thick, and that was the one for wine, and one that was thin was for the water.

כדי שיהיו כלין שניהן בבת אחת – for the water would hurry to leave more than the wine, for the wine was thicker and took longer to leave, therefore, the perforation for wine was fatter than the thin perforation for water, in order that they can be emptied at the same time.

ה"ג מערבי של מים, מזרחי של יין – the bowls were placed near the corner nearest this one for the one and the other for the other, one to the western side and one more inside of it, that is, to the east.

ר' יהודה אומר וכו' – in two things he disagreed; on the three logs he disagreed and on the seventh [day] that was stated by the first Teacher. And Rabbi Yehuda came to say that even on the eighth day they would pour a libation, but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.

הגבה את ידך – in order that it could be seen if he was placing water in the bowl, for the Sadducees didn’t accept the libation of the water.

שפעם אחת נסך – one Sadducee [offered a libation] with the water on his feet.

שאינה מקודשת – if it was not prepared for the Divine service on the Altar. For if he brought it while sanctified, he would invalidate it through leaving it overnight, for all Divine service utensils are sanctified, as it is written (Exodus 30:29): “whatever touches them shall be consecrated,” and all that is holy, the sanctity of the body is invalidated by remaining overnight.

Introduction This mishnah teaches how they would perform the water libation on Shabbat and yet avoid the problem of having to carry the water up from the Shiloah.

היה ממלא מן הכיור – and even though the jug was sanctified as vessels dedicated to the Temple service and which sanctifies its waters, they are not invalidated by remaining overnight, because they would let it down from the evening into a pit, as it states in [Tractate] Yoma (Chapter 3, Mishnah 10): “And he too made a mechanism for the laver so that its water should not be invalidated by being kept overnight.”

As it was performed on weekdays, so was it was performed on Shabbat, save that on the eve of Shabbat he would fill a non-sanctified golden barrel from the Shiloah, and place it in the chamber. Importantly, the mishnah emphasizes that the water libation was performed on Shabbat just as it was performed during the week. I believe that this is frequently one of the ways in which the rabbis emphasized the importance of controversial rituals. It is as if to say that the water libation is so crucial that it is even done on Shabbat. However, they had to make sure that the water was not carried through the public domain on Shabbat. In order to do this they would bring the water up on Friday before Shabbat and leave it in the chamber until the next morning. However, this posed another problem. Water or any other liquid left overnight in a sanctified vessel becomes unfit for use in the Temple. Therefore they would use a golden barrel that had not been consecrated.

שהמים והיין המגולין – that is the reason that if it was revealed, he would fill from the laver and would not offer a libation [from them] for the water [and the wine] that are revealed are invalid for the altar.

If it was poured away or uncovered, he would refill it from the laver, for wine or water which has become uncovered is invalid for the altar. If the water was poured away (perhaps by the Sadducean priest we met yesterday) then it obviously can’t be used. Similarly, if it was left uncovered it also can’t be used. Liquids left uncovered overnight are forbidden for anyone to drink for fear that a snake put venom in them. Since exposed liquids can’t be drunk by people, it is also forbidden to use them on the altar. If the water that they had brought up the day before could not be used, then they would just use water from the laver that was in the Temple.